*** Official Youth, High School, College and International Wrestling Thread ***

I can't be the only wrestling fan on this site. In fact, I know I that's not the case. The almighty king of n00bs, Sorter, is a wrestling fan. I figure there could be more.....????

Discuss anything wrestling related:

Youth wrestling: Heck, wrestling in Iowa has a rabid Youth wrestling scene...I lived through it, my younger brother lived through it and my brothers who are 15 and 13 are living through it, well the 13 year old is anyway...he's in high school. The 13 year old is a 7th grader who has been wrestling since he was 5 years old and has accumulated 4 state championships since his second grade year...a total badass. Believe it or not, Iowa has a youth wrestling forum that is hopping...even during the summer. Iowans take this stuff seriously. I'm assuming other states have rabid youth followings, for when I watch my bros at National tourneys, we are constantly running into kids and super clubs from other states that are amazing. Ironically, one of the biggest youth tourneys our club hits annually is the Park Hill Individual and Dual tournament...which to my knowledge is in Kansas City (I've never attended that one). Do any of you have kids who are wrestling? If so, how are they doing?

High School Wrestling: High school and college wrestling in Iowa is big... we are known for it, ask AC Slater. State tournament is a big, televised event at the Wells Fargo dome...you will see probably 10 times more spectators at state wrestling in Iowa then any other high school sporting event in Iowa. With some of the crazy talent I have seen/wrestled against at Fargo Nationals, I am assuming that it's either on the rise or just as big in other states as well... What are your thoughts on some of the high school wrestlers and/or teams out there?

College Wrestling: Hell, you Missourians semi-recently had those Askren brothers. I've never met Max, but have met Ben. He was the celebrity guest at Iowa Grade School State one year...he signed autographs and handed the medals and wall charts to all of the kids on the podium that year, which was cool because my youngest brother won it that year and was able to get his championship singlet signed by him. I was with my brother when he approached him....Askren struck me as a funny, goofy type of dude. I don't know Max, but someone posted his blog on an Iowa wrestling message board and the dude seems like a character. I know there are some Oklahomans' who post on this board. Anyone see Okie State defeat Iowa this past weekend? Iowa's first dual loss of the year. Anyone have any thoughts on college wrestling?

International Wrestling: Any of you have any thoughts on the international wrestling scene? Future Olympians, future Olympic champs, future World champs, Greco, Freestyle, etc.?

Wrestling Memories/General Discussion: Any of you have any memories you'd like to share from your personal experience(s) of wrestling when you were in youth, high school or college? Any opinions on females wrestling with males. Last year, a girl named Megan Black made history in Iowa by placing at state. Do you believe females should be able to wrestle with males at that age? Any thoughts on weight cutting? What are some of the most memorable matches to you? Who are your favorite wrestlers? One match that always sticks out to me is this:

Crazy match.

My favorite wrestler (besides my bros and former teammates) of all time is ironically not an Iowan. I don't really have a favorite team in wrestling...I root for individuals. It's a dude from Ohio that I initially hated because I didn't like the way he conducted himself after a match vs. my brother in the national duals when he and my brother were Seniors in High School, in which he defeated my brother. Kid was cocky. He and my brother both went on to wrestle D1, so I followed him since I knew who he was. I ended up becoming a huge fan of the kid's style...the kid could hit cradles from ANY position. He went on to win 2 National titles for Ohio State...and did so both years as an underdog, for he'd lose quite a few silly matches during the season, presumably due to his risky, but dangerous style that worked well for him at NCAA Nationals. It's a dude named Jeff Jaggers. First vid is what really put his name on the map as a high school wrestler. 2nd vid is his 1st NCAA championship as a Junior, in a match where he was a huge underdog, broke his ankle during the match and gutted it out and won. My favorite wrestlers tend to be the ones who are risk takers or brawlers...not afraid to be aggressive or take chances. I can't stand stallish wrestlers who are successful as hell simply because they don't open up and therefore don't give up points and score their own points by capitalizing on the other wrestler's aggression. Boring.

So what ya got?

Note: I have been posting on wrestling message boards for 12 years and I (and I'm sure everyone else involved with the sport) have heard every wrestling joke (rolling around with men, etc.) imaginable, but if ya want to clown on the sport, shoot... it was inevitable to happen anyways on CP, so have at it!

Wish there were more wrestling fans in this world, but its a relatively small sport worldwide. I will chime in with some comments.

Youth
I am one of the coaches of our youth wrestling program. We have over 50 kids out from K-6 grade. Pretty good for a small school in the midwest. I have two boys involved and they are both having a great season. My youngest has only lost one match so far and my oldest has lost two. If I can keep them interested without burning them out, there future is very bright.

High School
I still follow high school wrestling very closely. One of the toughest tournaments in the state is this weekend. 5 kids ranked number 1 at their respective weight class and 2 division one recruits wrestling 15 miles from my house. I might try and watch the finals.

College
Once a wrestling fan, always a wrestling fan. I haven't missed NCAA's for 8 years. This year its at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, IA. The nation will get to see what true wrestling fans support. I have many great memories of NCAA finals matches. Caldwell over Metcalf was epic. Mark Perry as a four time all-american. Jake varner as a four time finalist. Ben Askren with his goofy hair and goofy style. Matt McDonough vs. Andrew Long as freshman. Burroughs vs. Howe. Ness over Dennis was another epic match. Anthony Robles with one leg over Matt McDonough was also another amazing match. Watching David Taylor, Ed Ruth, and Q Wright dominate the last couple years has been fun. However, one of the most compelling matches of all-time should happen in March. Kyle Dake vs David Taylor. Most people forget that Dake won it as a true freshman and has moved up a class the last 3 years. He is looking to become the first four time national champion at 4 different weight classes.

International
Solid showing at the Olympics with team USA taking gold with Jake Varner and Jordan Burroughs. Sounds like Varner is not coming back for another shot in Brazil, but Burroughs is. Future is bright for USA wrestling with Burroughs, Metcalf, Dake, Howe, Taylor, and Steibers.

Wish there were more wrestling fans in this world, but its a relatively small sport worldwide. I will chime in with some comments.

Youth
I am one of the coaches of our youth wrestling program. We have over 50 kids out from K-6 grade. Pretty good for a small school in the midwest. I have two boys involved and they are both having a great season. My youngest has only lost one match so far and my oldest has lost two. If I can keep them interested without burning them out, there future is very bright.

High School
I still follow high school wrestling very closely. One of the toughest tournaments in the state is this weekend. 5 kids ranked number 1 at their respective weight class and 2 division one recruits wrestling 15 miles from my house. I might try and watch the finals.

College
Once a wrestling fan, always a wrestling fan. I haven't missed NCAA's for 8 years. This year its at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, IA. The nation will get to see what true wrestling fans support. I have many great memories of NCAA finals matches. Caldwell over Metcalf was epic. Mark Perry as a four time all-american. Jake varner as a four time finalist. Ben Askren with his goofy hair and goofy style. Matt McDonough vs. Andrew Long as freshman. Burroughs vs. Howe. Ness over Dennis was another epic match. Anthony Robles with one leg over Matt McDonough was also another amazing match. Watching David Taylor, Ed Ruth, and Q Wright dominate the last couple years has been fun. However, one of the most compelling matches of all-time should happen in March. Kyle Dake vs David Taylor. Most people forget that Dake won it as a true freshman and has moved up a class the last 3 years. He is looking to become the first four time national champion at 4 different weight classes.

International
Solid showing at the Olympics with team USA taking gold with Jake Varner and Jordan Burroughs. Sounds like Varner is not coming back for another shot in Brazil, but Burroughs is. Future is bright for USA wrestling with Burroughs, Metcalf, Dake, Howe, Taylor, and Steibers.

Brianfo in the house! It doesn't appear that there are that many wrestling fans on here for this thread wasn't exactly a hit, so 99% of you probably are unaware of how excellent of a post that was. Muchos proppos.

First off, that high school tournament you described sounded a lot like the Ed Winger in Iowa.

I haven't been following college wrestling as much as I have in the past, but the Taylor vs. Dake match up is exciting. I honestly had no idea that Dake was on verge of becoming first wrestler to do that. Incredible. Did these two meet up at Olympic tryouts this year?....I'm gonna have to start keeping up with the college scene again. I kept up with Midlands, UNI Open, Iowa vs. ISU and Iowa vs. OSU and that's about it.

You coach a youth program with 50 kids?! Are most these kids going to be going t be enrolled at the same high school when older? What year is this for your sons? Do they have that low of an amount of losses for the season or career? Sounds like the future high school program or at least the schools in the area have a nice foundation of kids in place. Good luck!

Good wrestlers are generally generated in youth by parents and youth coaches. With many good high school wrestlers, high school coaches are mostly responsible for maintaining a kids skill set that's already in place and building on it while simultaneously maintaining their mentalities/attitudes. While they should get a lot of credit for how so much of an impact they have with certain kids, youth coaches are the ones who don't get the credit they deserve and are probably the most responsible people for a kid becoming good/great/elite wrestlers. And to think that these influential coaches are generally unpaid, even makes it more mind-boggling. I've coached on the high school (as an assistant) and youth (as a volunteer coach) levels and it was a much more pleasant experience watching one of your wrestlers first start showing signs of being great (because they will probably remain really, really good) then it was coaching kids who had been successful since they were in Kindergarten continue to dominate. I love watching talent emerge and make waves among the spectators....generally happens in youth.

Good luck to your boys in the remainder of the season! If your an Iowan, districts this Sunday...pumped?

Most of my wrestling emphasis this year has been at youth and high school level, for I have one brother who is a Freshman and one who is a 7th grader. A lot of drama. I've wanted to express my personal thoughts on this somewhere, but didn't want to on Iowa youth/high school wrestling boards, for I am not anonymous and everyone in the state at these big tourneys seems to know everyone. To those of you who will read this, give me your input and it will be appreciated big time. Our team is ranked very high in the state. One of the best teams in the state in it's class. Whole lineup is stacked, many kids ranked.

My brother was ranked coming in as a freshman at his projected weight of 106 lbs...one of only a few freshman who was ranked in preseason. I honestly felt weird about it...on one hand, he is really good...placed 4th at state as an 8th grader, 7th at state as a 7th grader, 1 match from placing in years prior. On the other hand...our team is stacked and there is a log-jam at 106 and 113 with an opening at 120. The kid he had to beat out at 106 was a freshman who won state 3 times prior to this season, and while my brother and him had been pretty much even the past couple years in head to head, he was the most accomplished wrestler between the 2. So there is a load of pressure right there... He ended up having challenge matches with the kid, best of 3 wins the spot. My bro wins 1st challenge match 2-0. In 2nd one, he had a 5-1 lead going into the 3rd period and was reversed and turned with 30 seconds left in match to lose 6-5. In 3rd challenge, the kids were back and forth entire match and the other guy ended up winning 5-4 in double OT and wins the spot. Obviously those two are CLOSE. Bro decides he doesn't want to cut anymore weight and goes to 113 lbs where our original 113 lber didn't want to cut weight anymore himself and bumped up to 120 lbs. This kid is a stud in our lineup as well and is my fiancée's first cousin (dads are bros).

So my bro wrestles for 3-4 weeks at 113 lbs and the other guy stays at 120 lbs, while the varsity 106 replaced my bro in the rankings and climbed up them. 120 lber has a bad tourney one weekend and decides to cut to 113 again, challenge my bro and wrestle there if he wins. He did beat my brother in a close match and became our 113 lber. Fair enough. Unfortunate, but fair...just how things go sometimes (made for some awkwardness at Christmas gatherings on my fiancée's side of the family). So my bro bumps to 120 and beats out the 2 other kids who were wrestling JV. Problem is, he was originally a 106 lber and weighs 112-113 lbs on full feed after practice. In other words, he is undersized at 120, which is a huge barrier and not a good weight to be undersized and young at. The 113 lber was given permission to go to 113 on the condition that he didn't ever back out of the spot to go back up because their goal with my brother is to try to get him to pack on some muscle/weight. The head coach and kid promised to my father (who is a paid assistant coach) that he would not be allowed to weight jump for the remainder of the year so we could focus on 120.

So my brother starts drinking multiple protein shakes per day and he starts lifting 1-2 times per day, once before school and once before practice with intentions of bulking him up on the spot. We get him to where he is weighing 120 lbs on full feed...still small compared to the kids who cut 20 lbs to get there, but better than 112 lbs. Then all the sudden our 113 lber decided that he wanted to go up to 120 lbs for the Conference tournament because the 113 lb bracket has got 1 real tough kid and 120 lbs has literally jack-squat and he wanted to become the 4th wrestler in not school, but Conference history to win 4 Conference titles (my D1 28 year old bro was one of these 4). This kid won conference as a Freshman last year and if he wins this year (which he would for sure at 120 lbs), he would have 2 Conference championships out of the way, with only 2 more to go to become the 5th wrestler ever to do it.

He asked the head coach if he could wrestle there for the week and the coach agreed, forgetting all about the promises that were made that the kid would not be allowed to do it. I don't think it was a jerk move on my coach's part, I literally think he "just forgot." He goes back up to 120 while my brother, who our primary focus was to gain weight so he can be competitive at 120 and possibly qualify for state, is asked to cut back down to 113 for conference.

Here is my beef, conference was this past weekend. The first of 2 qualifying events, sectionals (you have to place in top 2 out of 6 teams to qualify for districts, have to place in top 2 out of 4 at districts to qualify for state) is THIS weekend. Freaking 6 days later. Therefore my brother, 1 week before a "much more important than conference" sectional tournament, has to cut to 113 and then try to get his weight, which we had been working on him gaining, up to 120-ish 6 days later for the "important if you have ambitions of qualifying for state" sectional tournament.

Is it me, or was this kid and his family who encouraged him to do this (as mentioned, they are closely related to my fiancée) pretty selfish? Especially to the brother of what will be an official member of the family in a month and a half? Should I be butt-hurt about it? Because I am. It just ticks me off that everything we worked for in terms of growing into 120 lbs. has been jeopardized just because this kid wanted to dodge competition to win 4 pointless (they don't further you in your journey to freaking state) conference tournaments.

It has been great that he has been wrestling varsity for such a successful team, but man his Freshman season has been littered with frustration.

The 7th grader, who is a total stud, has won 10-12 various state championships if you add his Freestyle and Greco championships along with being a state champ in all 3 of the main state tourneys in Iowa (USA, GSS and AAU...AAU being the big one). He wrestled in the Junior High season which only lasts a month and half and became the first wrestler from our school to not give up a single point in an entire season. If he does it as an 8th grader, that means he never gave up a point in school-sanctioned wrestling events in JH. However, since JH season has come to a conclusion, he has taken some frustrating losses. Only placed 5th at GSS state, which is good, but he got beat by a couple kids he should never be beaten by...1 who beat him for the first time in 10 tries. He's kind of at a weight in JH (100 lbs) where there are 7th grade boys who haven't begun puberty and 8th grade men who have gone through puberty and are probably not going to grow much more. My bro is in the "boy" group...one of his main strengths has always been his power...being "out-horsed" has been his main problem this year...he just can't hang in there physically with some of these matured/maturing 8th graders...something we are not used to being an issue with him when he was a 1st, 3rd, 5th grader wrestling 2nd, 4th and 6th graders. Districts for AAU state this Sunday and I'm nervous as hell about it....never know which 8th graders emerge from out of nowhere.

Man, what a frustrating year.

Found some cool shit this year for coaching. Watched a lot of youtube clips of Cary Kolat and joined his site and discovered that; 1.) he is one of the best and most unique technicians I've ever seen...my favorite followed by Wade Schalles and 2.) If you learn the moves, which work very well, to kids (high school and youth), they have a blast learning it. Pretty fun technique that you don't see often. Here are a couple of examples:

Awesome funk.

Love how he shows this lateral...love how he emphasized working from the side/angle to set it up opposed to going straight on. The only lateral I knew in high school was straight on and I rarely attempted it because it always felt risky. This lateral he shows, works like a charm.

On a sidenote, I know Taylor is a total monster, but I've watched Nick Moore wrestle since he was a 1st or 2nd grader and my brother was an assistant coach at his high school where he was a 4 time state champion.... 3-4 years ago, the thought of him being beaten 18-2 was unimaginable to me. Taylor vs. Dake will be insane.

I Thought coming in that Ballweg would only get a dec, Taylor would get a major(right), and Wright would get bonus.

I think Nick Moore has a chance to place and will probably be R12 but Dake, Taylor and Caldwell are all on a different level.

I have no idea how Ballweg is ranked 8th but I can't imagine him placing at 141. That weight is brutal.

I agree with all of that.

Ballweg has exceeded my expectations coming out of high school...I mean, he was a great, great wrestler, but I thought he would eventually end up at Wartburg or Upper Iowa or D3 somewhere and winning titles there...He has been more competitive in D1 than I expected him to be.

You are a Taylor fan, right? Are you wanting to see him stop Dake on his quest to winning 4 titles at 4 different weights? How do you think that match will unravel?

Ballweg has exceeded my expectations coming out of high school...I mean, he was a great, great wrestler, but I thought he would eventually end up at Wartburg or Upper Iowa or D3 somewhere and winning titles there...He has been more competitive in D1 than I expected him to be.

You are a Taylor fan, right? Are you wanting to see him stop Dake on his quest to winning 4 titles at 4 different weights? How do you think that match will unravel?

I really like both guys. I prefer Taylor as I enjoy his offensive diversity from both the feet and on top. I also think that he's going to open up a lot more in their finals matchup. Dakes a cool guy though and wouldn't hate to see him win either, provided it isn't via riding and backing up.

As for Ballweg, I thought he could have been okay at 133/141 and been a R16/R12 guy who might get AA once. He isn't very good on the mat, doesn't have a lot of variety offensively, but stays in good position, handfights well, and is aggressive. Also has a good gastank. Some people on themat.com were clamoring all over him after his first year of JRs at Fargo bc he had a close match IIRC with Graff.

__________________
We do not choose our destinies. Yet we must...we must do our duty, no? Great or small, we must do our duty.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mavericks Ace

I have completely given up on Alex Smith as a qb. Its painful to watch. Like, worse than watching Colt McCoy.

International
Solid showing at the Olympics with team USA taking gold with Jake Varner and Jordan Burroughs. Sounds like Varner is not coming back for another shot in Brazil, but Burroughs is. Future is bright for USA wrestling with Burroughs, Metcalf, Dake, Howe, Taylor, and Steibers.

errr... if you ignore Greco completely. Perhaps the most embarrassing performance ever. Coleman Scott was a nice surprise. Future of FS team USA does look great. Logan Steiber at 60KG, and Oliver at 66KG will bury that meathead Metcalf. Dake,Taylor, and Howe to join Burroughs at 74KG like you said. Ed Ruth should be at the top of 84 KG soon. FS world teams will be as strong as ever. 121 will probably still struggle though

No offense but a quick trackwrestling search reveals you are quite the homer when it comes to your bros

None taken man. I've been called out as that before and will more than likely be called that again. I am proud of them, and admit, my bias and love for them may cause me to come off as someone who over-glamourizes their accomplishments. I haven't stretched the truth with anything though. Maybe I've omitted things, but not intentionally.
Trackwrestling (I am glad to interact with another person who knows what that is) is becoming more and more reliable for it is being used for more and more tournaments. However, many tournaments still have not caught on to it, and many of them have caught on semi-recently..as in the past couple years. So many potential past accolades may not be listed. But it IS becoming more and more reliable.

Completely honest rundown...

- I do have a 28 year old bro who in high school placed 2nd as a Freshman, 2nd as a Soph, 1st as a Junior and notorious for placing 7th as a Senior. He did wrestle D1 as I mentioned. What I may have omitted is that he didn't pan out in college as many of us speculated he would.

- I do have a 15 year old bro who is wrestling varsity as a Freshman on our powerhouse wrestling team. He wrestles at Sectionals today (nervous). His recent trackwrestling stuff may appear a bit rough, but the circumstances haven't been great. He came into season ranked at 106 lbs, was literally edged out by a kid who may win state and has been wrestling as a true 106 lber at 120 lbs...so he has taken some lumps this year, but has done ok considering the circumstances. As mentioned, out of Iowa's 3 youth state sanctions (USA, AAU, Grade School State), the big daddy is AAU, 2nd biggest is GSS and 3rd is USA. He placed 7th as a 7th grader and 4th as an 8th grader at AAU. He placed at GSS 3 times, but skipped it his 8th grade year. What I may have omitted is that he has skipped USA state folkstyle wrestling for years and has only participated in Freestyle/Greco in terms of USA sanctioned state events....and he hasn't performed particularly well at those.

- My 13 year old brother did become our school's first kid to complete a JH season (exclusively school sanctioned meets) without giving up a point. What I have omitted regarding this year is that he has had some shaky performances since then...at kind of a tough age/weight. 100 lbs, 7th grade. I was at 100 lbs as a 7th grader myself and placed 6th at AAU...During the season, I got my butt kicked worse than ever against some of the semi-matured 8th graders and my bro is kind of going through the same thing, but not quite as severe as how I did....he's still relatively competitive against the elite 100 lb 8th graders. Placed 5th at GSS a few weeks ago...looked like crap, to be honest. I mentioned that he has won an array of state titles, but what I omitted is which ones he actually won. Most importantly, he hasn't put it together at AAU in a long time. Placed 3rd last year when he was expected by many to win it. It was a weird tourney. He ended up beating Terry Brands's son, Nelson, 18-3 on winner side, then after he got beat in semis, he pinned Brands in the semi-consols....BUT in OT. It is amazing that you go from teching a kid one day then going in OT with them the next. Nelson Brands is going to be really good...he's wrestled competitively for only a couple years. His 3rd and 4th place win was a big one...pinned a kid who is sort of his rival...a kid who has done real well on the National level. The state championships he has under his belt include: AAU as 2nd grader, USA Folkstyle as 2nd and 4th grader (last year he participated), USA Freestyle as 4th and 6th grader, USA Greco once or twice, Grade School State as 2nd, 4th and 6th grader.

I admit, I do tend to be homertastic about them and while they have taken their lumps (especially this season so far), I feel like I have a lot to be proud of with them. But that's just me...depends on what your standards are in terms of what is "successful," I guess.

Just watched the match. Hats off to Iowa and those god-awful fans at Carver, but they won't be winning any NCAA championships anytime soon. Tom Brands is a buffoon. Same goes for his lunatic brother.

Really don't see how they will get more than 2 AAs out of Ballweg, Moore, Lofthouse, Burak, Telford this year. Not going to cut it. The next few years don't really look much better.

Doesn't offend me...I don't root for a team. Just have my select individuals who I root for for various teams. However, Iowa is the team I have been most exposed to due to living there... with that said, it's been a while since I have watched any wrestling competition at Carver. Are they really that bad, or are you being facetious? Honest question...if they really are "God-awful," I won't be in disbelief or anything.

Doesn't offend me...I don't root for a team. Just have my select individuals who I root for for various teams. However, Iowa is the team I have been most exposed to due to living there... with that said, it's been a while since I have watched any wrestling competition at Carver. Are they really that bad, or are you being facetious? Honest question...if they really are "God-awful," I won't be in disbelief or anything.

I'm just an Iowa hater. Those fans and coaches get under my skin like nothing else when I see them on TV. Anyway, you seem like an excellent coach and brother. Hope your brothers do well. I tend to stay familiar with the national high school scene so I hope to find them in a bracket or two.

Also, to be clear, you and all of your family were/are better wrestlers than I was. I only started in the 9th grade. Wrestled TJ Sebolt once in Tulsa. Didn't go well. Ha. But I enjoyed it when I wresled varsity 2 years. Really grew to love the sport

Another thing I noticed is that y'alls team should make a pretty decent run this year and are set up even better for next. Too bad your brother will only be in 8th